EDUC520- Philosophy of

Education

Final Project

Type of work: Individual

Personal Philosophy of Education

 
This assignment will allow you to articulate your own philosophy of education and organize the
bits and pieces of a lifetime of being a student and observing the world around you. By bringing
your philosophy of education to a conscious level, thinking carefully about it, challenging your
assumptions, and organizing your ideas into a written statement, you will have a solid foundation
on which to begin teaching. A well-developed sense of purpose, values, and underlying beliefs
about teaching and learning will help to maintain focus throughout your teaching career.
 
To complete this assignment,

1. Think about your own approach and experiences in education. Make a list of all of the things
that are important to you as a student and to you as a teacher or future teacher.  Consider why
you think these elements are important. You may use your Reflection Paper as a basis to
organize these thoughts. What will you do as a teacher to ensure that these important factors
are present in your classroom and are reflected in your instructional strategies and classroom-
management techniques?

2. Read about the major philosophies of education:  Essentialism, Perennialism, Progressivism,

and Social Reconstructionism. There are others, but these four represent a broad range of
general recognized educational philosophies and should serve as a good starting place by
which you will build your own. You can find these in the document titled “Four
Philosophies: Overview” or you may do your own research. Explore philosophies that match
your beliefs.

3. Write a paper in which you discuss your beliefs in terms of the four philosophies, and
explain which of these resonates with you the most and why. Your paper should be well
structured and logically organized to demonstrate how your teaching philosophy (i.e., values
and beliefs) relates to what you will do in the classroom (e.g., instructional strategies, use of
technology, role of collaboration, types of discipline, respectful rapport).  This 11-13 paged
paper should describe your core beliefs about teaching and learning and how these beliefs
will be enacted in the classroom.  To support your ideas, please provide specific examples
and connect these to at least one specific philosophy. Include an Annotated Bibliography. 
Remember to cite any sources in APA format that you used to help you develop your ideas
or that inspired your teaching philosophy.